How Blockchain is Changing E-commerce and Digital Marketing
Blockchain is changing e-commerce and digital Marketing by revolutionising how we store data and handle transactions online. While it’s best known for powering cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, its uses extend beyond digital money.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchain is a secure, transparent way to store and share information. Unlike traditional systems controlled by one company or organisation, blockchain is decentralised—meaning no single entity has control. Instead, it’s maintained by a network of computers. When a transaction occurs, it’s recorded in a “block.” These blocks are linked together to form a chain, with each block building on the previous one.
This structure makes blockchain very secure, as it’s difficult to tamper with the information once it’s added.
How Blockchain Benefits E-commerce
Blockchain has several advantages for e-commerce businesses:
Enhanced Security: Online businesses are constantly looking for ways to make transactions more secure. Blockchain’s decentralised nature makes it harder for hackers to alter the data. Once a transaction is added, it’s secure and can’t be changed, giving both businesses and customers peace of mind.
Simplified Payments: Blockchain can make payments, especially cross-border ones, faster and cheaper by cutting out middlemen like banks. Some businesses are even accepting cryptocurrencies as payment, offering more options for customers.
Tracking Product Origins: Blockchain is useful for tracking products from their origin to the customer. This can be especially helpful for businesses that want to prove their products are ethically sourced or authentic, building trust with customers. Starbucks and Walmart are high profile brands who use blockchain technology to trace their products and manage supplier payments. If you have a huge tech tack or multiple IT systems that just won’t talk to each other, consider block chain technology.
Blockchain in Digital Marketing
Blockchain is also impacting digital marketing in several ways:
Preventing Ad Fraud: Ad fraud is a major problem in digital marketing. Blockchain helps verify that ads are being seen by real people, not bots. This means businesses get better value from their advertising budgets by avoiding wasted spend on fake impressions. (And better accuracy on the KPIs they monitor)
Protecting Customer Privacy: With data privacy becoming more important, blockchain allows customers to control who can access their personal information. Instead of storing customer data themselves, businesses can let customers manage their own data on a blockchain, ensuring privacy compliance. No more giving your email to one company only for them to sell it on to 5 others!
Improving Loyalty Programmes: Blockchain can make loyalty schemes easier to manage. Instead of using complex systems, businesses can offer rewards through blockchain, allowing customers to earn and track points or tokens more easily.
Transparency and Trust
One of blockchain’s biggest strengths is its transparency. Every transaction is visible to everyone in the network, making it easy to verify. This builds trust, which is especially important in e-commerce where customers want to feel confident about the businesses they’re buying from.
Blockchain is also immutable meaning once information is added, it can’t be changed or deleted. This makes it ideal for securing sensitive business data and protecting customer transactions.
The Takeaway
To sum up, tech we see in a blockchain is changing e-commerce and digital marketing. Blockchain is more than just cryptocurrency technology. It’s beginning to slowly reshape e-commerce and digital marketing by offering better security, transparency, and efficiency. As blockchain continues to grow, businesses that can adopt it early could benefit from increased trust and streamlined operations.
It’s important to note that if you’ve spent time working on attaining B-Corp or similar, or you use energy friendly code, this will fly in the face of that as Blockchain technology is famously energy intensive.